Worst Case Scenario
by TracyT
Summary: In the blink of an eye, it all went horribly wrong.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Worst Case Scenario

Author: TracyT

Rating: PG-15

Category: Angst, maybe a little romance

Summary: It all went horribly wrong

Spoilers: None

Archive: yes, please

Feedback to:

Author's note: Don't kill me please! This just popped into my head one day. Not fluffy at all.

#######

It happened so fast she had no time to react. They had just entered the warehouse and her eyes hadn't adjusted from bright sunshine to the gloom of the building when she heard Castle shout "Beckett!" Then he had her in a bear hug, hunching his body over hers protectively. She started to say his name, to ask him what the hell he was doing, when she felt twin jolts as the bullets slammed into him. Something like fire ran down her arm. Castle grunted once and was silent

"Castle," she cried out.

His dead weight almost dragged her down, but she pivoted and tried to lower him to the ground as easily as she could. The bullets kept coming. Ryan and Esposito were returning fire, but it was coming from everywhere. They were forced to scramble for cover, returning fire, leaving Castle behind.

Kate hunkered down behind some packing boxes, breathing heavily. Esposito yelled out, "Beckett?"

"Yeah." She was telling him she was okay. She wasn't. She looked over to where Castle was lying. "Castle," she yelled. "Talk to me." Nothing. His face was turned away from her and he was completely still. His shirt sleeve outside the ridiculous "Writer" vest was shiny. Blood. Emotion threatened to overwhelm her, but she fought it back. She tried to see if he was breathing but she couldn't tell.

"NYPD, come out with your hands up," Esposito called out. All that did was start the shooting again. She heard Ryan shouting into his radio for assistance, and "Man down, man down. Castle's down." She fought back a shudder and had a brief vision of them in bed this morning. God, she couldn't think about that now. If she did she was done.

Kate aimed her fire to the catwalks above. That seemed to be where the gunfire was coming from. A great vantage point. Anyone below was a sitting duck.

"I count three," Ryan shouted. "10:00, 12:00 and 4:00." For his efforts all three directed fire his way. Well, Kate thought, at least we're evenly matched. She heard sirens in the distance and felt some relief. If Castle still had time.

Kate crept around so she had a better shot at 10:00. She waited until he fired and she fired back, hearing him shout and a sound like a body falling. One down, two to go.

Esposito got 12:00 as he made a run for the exit door. He fell to the ground level like a stunt man in an action movie and was still.

Mr. 4:00 was harder to tag. He moved around without them seeing. They were forced to keep under cover because he was just that good with a gun.

"You're all alone now," Kate shouted. "Put your gun down and surrender and you can be the one who lived."

"No way," he shouted back. "I got your friend, didn't I? How's he doin'?" He fired at Castle again, hitting him in the vest this time, non-lethal, but Castle's body jumped from the impact. Ryan and Esposito were both shouting expletives and shooting toward the source of the gunshots, but Kate felt an icy calm come over her. She moved around to the side and she could just see Mr. 4:00 behind a pillar up above. He was too busy with Ryan and Esposito to have noticed what she was doing. She took aim and when he raised his head slightly, she hit him square behind the right ear. Pink, foamy brain tissue sprayed the wall next to him.

She was on her knees beside Castle immediately. She got the vest over his head and ripped his shirt open. Buttons pinged all around them. She felt for a pulse, and found a thready one. Thank God, he was alive, but just barely. The bullets had gone in at an angle into his neck and shoulder. He was utterly still. She felt Esposito and Ryan next to her. As she applied pressure to the wounds, her eyes filled with tears, but anger fought with grief for the cause. "You listen to me, Castle," she ground out. "I swear to God, if you ever do anything like that again, _I will_ _fucking kill you myself." _She sobbed once and sniffled. She looked up at Esposito. "Where's that Goddamn bus?" she shouted.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Worst Case Scenario Chapter II

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, maybe a little romance

Summary: It all went horribly wrong

Spoilers: None

Archive: yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this, it's a labor of love.

Author's note: Sorry it's taken me so long to update this story. RL got in the way. Hope you like it!

#######

Kate stood just to the side of the medics working on Castle, afraid to move farther away. Esposito came to stand just beside her. "All three shooters are dead. Thought you'd want to know."

Kate nodded without looking at him. The medics raised the gurney up in preparation to wheeling Castle out to the ambulance. "I'm going with him," she told Esposito.

Esposito put a hand on her arm. "No you are not." He enunciated each word clearly. "You are going to get that arm looked at." He held her arm up to show the long graze from elbow to wrist.

"It's just a scratch. I'm fine." During the whole gun battle she hadn't felt a thing, now it burned and throbbed, but she'd never tell that to Esposito. She started to move away from him, when he grabbed her good arm and got in her face.

"Come on, Beckett, you know the drill. You're hurt. You will go get that arm taken care of if I have to carry you to the medics. Ryan said he'd go with Castle."

"No. No." Kate ground out and her eyes filled. "Esposito, you listen to me. I am going to go with Castle to the hospital. Once we get there, once Castle gets taken care of, I will have someone look at my arm, okay?"

They glared at each other for a few seconds. Kate could tell Esposito was not giving in. She took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly, trying to calm herself. She gritted her teeth and tried to keep her voice from shaking when she said, "Look, he could be _dying_," her voice wobbled at the word. "I have to go. I _need_ to go." Then she added, "Please."

Esposito held her glance for a few more seconds before exhaling a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, yeah, fine, go." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe he was saying that.

She reached out to squeeze his shoulder in thanks and turned to follow the gurney when a voice called out, "Detective Beckett. We need to have a few words with you." She turned to see Montgomery and the Police Commissioner heading her way. She shot Esposito a look of panic. There was no way they'd let her accompany Castle now.

Esposito raised a hand her way, already moving toward the ambulance. "No worries. I got it." He said and she watched him climb into the ambulance in her place.

#######

Hours later, an exhausted Kate Beckett walked through the sliding doors of the hospital. They had questioned her endlessly, wanting to know how one of their VIP's had been shot in her care. It was a PR nightmare. She had answered basically the same questions over and over again. No, Castle did not normally accompany them into dangerous situations, but the warehouse was reported to have been empty and their intent was to just examine the last known hideout of drug dealer, Carter Booth. She tried to explain to them how things had gone down, but they seemed unconvinced. Finally they put her on suspension pending a further inquiry and let her go. She turned in her gun and badge and left as quickly as possible. The whole time she was being questioned she fought a sense of panic, wondering how Castle was doing, wondering if he was still alive. Her pleas to them that she wanted to get to the hospital to check on Castle fell on deaf ears. Once it was over she didn't care what the outcome of their investigation was, she just wanted out of there. The Commissioner and his men could have told her she would be shot at dawn and she would have accepted that gladly if they would just let her go.

She felt shredded, drained, she could barely make herself put one foot in front of the other, but she had to know, had to see him, if possible.

She asked directions at the nurse's station and was pointed toward the emergency waiting room. Before she reached the door she could hear Alexis Castle crying and Martha's voice saying something to her. Kate stopped in her tracks. She couldn't face Alexis and Martha right now. Couldn't see them look at her accusingly. She nearly turned back the way she had come but Esposito had spotted her. "Hey, Beckett, in here."

Resigned, she entered the waiting room and instead of accusation, Martha and Alexis rushed forward to gather her into a hug. "Kate, I'm so glad you're here," Alexis sobbed. Martha sniffled and patted Kate's arm. "Yes, dear, we're so glad you're okay."

Kate was speechless. She didn't know what to say to the two women and it must have shown on her face because Esposito stepped forward and said, "Ladies, I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I talk to Beckett alone for a minute, please?" Martha and Alexis nodded and went back to their seats, and Kate felt inexcusably relieved.

Kate turned her back and indicated Esposito should as well. "How is he?" She said in a low voice.

"Still in surgery…" Esposito began, when Ryan came around the corner with a cardboard carrier containing four coffees.

"Beckett," he acknowledged her with a nod. "Did you tell her?" He asked Esposito.

Esposito glared at him, and suddenly Ryan looked uncomfortable. He retreated to deliver coffee to Martha and Alexis and left her alone with Esposito.

"Tell me what?" Kate asked. When Esposito didn't answer her right away she started to get alarmed. She grabbed his sleeve and said, "Esposito, tell me. What's happened?"

Esposito snorted out a disgusted sigh. "Listen, on the way to the hospital, Castle woke up."

"Oh, God. "

"Yeah, he was pretty freaked out, in shock, in pain, and all. He was trying to say something to me through the oxygen mask. Finally, he grabbed it and pulled it away to ask about you. He wanted to know if you were okay."

Kate stared, feeling the lump in her throat again. "That's not all, is it?" Esposito looked at her silently for a few seconds and then shook his head. "Tell me."

Esposito ran a hand over the back of his head and looked away from her for a moment. Then he turned back and said, "Right before we got here his lung collapsed and he coded."

"Coded." Kate tried to swallow but her throat wouldn't work. "You mean…"

"His heart stopped." Kate could feel herself sway on her feet. He had died. While she was answering stupid questions at the precinct, Richard Castle had ceased to exist on this earth for a time. Esposito reached out and grabbed both her hands to keep her from falling.

"Listen, Beckett, you're about to drop. Come on, come sit down." He led her to a chair, and kept hold of her hands while she collapsed into it. He knelt next to her and said softly, "The good news is, they're working on him now, he's alive, he's in surgery, I just don't know what condition he's in, okay?"

Kate could only stare at him.

#######

Kate had no concept of time after that. All she could do was sit and stare. Alexis came over and sat next to her, taking her arm and hugging it to her. Kate tried not to flinch. It was the arm with the graze on it. She'd never had time to let anyone look at it, and although she wore a jacket it still burned sharply. Alexis laid her head against the side of Kate's shoulder and sniffled. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her nose was red.

"Kate," she said softly. "Detective Ryan said my dad got shot saving you. Is that right?"

Kate stiffened a little at the words, but after a moment she reached over with her free hand to smooth the girl's hair. "Yeah, he did. He saw the shooters before any of us, and shielded me with his body." Her voice shook at the memory.

Alexis nodded slowly. "That helps a little." After a few moments she said, "Kate, I'm really scared. It's always been just dad and me. What if…what will I do without him?" She started crying softly again.

Kate turned and hugged her, at a loss for words. She was wondering the same thing. What was she going to do without him?" Eventually Alexis got up and went to sit with her grandmother and Kate was left to her thoughts.

After a while Esposito appeared in her line of vision with a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the machine. He moved the old magazines on the table next to her out of the way and put the food down. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Listen to me, eat this or I'll hurt you." She tried, she really did, but the sandwich tasted like sawdust and the coffee was like mud.

Martha came over and sat in the chair next to Kate and took Kate's hand between hers. Kate looked over and saw that Alexis had fallen asleep on one of the couches, exhausted. Martha gave Kate's hand one good pat. She gazed down at their hands for a few moments and Kate braced herself for what she was going to say. When Martha did speak what she said surprised Kate. She took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "When he was six, we were living in an apartment in an old house in Brooklyn. He made a cape out of one of my best bath towels and somehow managed to climb up onto the roof of the garage. Wearing nothing but his Spider Man swim trunks and the cape, he jumped, thinking he could fly. He broke his collar bone, scraped most of the skin off his chest and knocked himself cold. I thought he was dea…" Her voice caught. She put a hand to her trembling mouth for a moment and her eyes filled, but Kate could see her pull herself together. "I thought he was dead." She managed a watery smile.

"When he was nine we were living in an old Victorian building with cracked plaster walls and very high ceilings. The place was so narrow, two people couldn't pass each other in the kitchen, but the ceilings were a mile high. One Saturday morning Richard got bored, and as we both know a bored Richard Castle is a dangerous thing. He decided to go 'mountain climbing.' He built a tower out of chairs, side tables, suitcases, God, I don't know what else, but he managed to reach that darned ceiling. I was still in bed, but managed to get up just in time to see him perched precariously on the top of his creation and touch the ceiling. I said, 'Richard!' He turned to look at me with this triumphant smile on his face—and that's when the whole thing collapsed and crashed to the ground."

Despite herself, Kate gave a little gasp.

Martha nodded. "It sounded like a bomb went off. I could see him fall but there was nothing I could do. He broke his leg in two places and sprained his wrist, but it could have been worse. Well, actually, the worst part was he was laid up in bed for several weeks and he drove me absolutely crazy."

Kate found herself smiling at the thought of trying to convince Richard Castle to hold still for any length of time.

Martha took a breath and continued. "When he was twelve, he came home with a black eye, a bloody nose, and a split lip, not to mention two broken fingers. Believe it or not, but in school Richard was rather quiet and we moved around so much he didn't have many friends. Oh, he could—and can—charm the birds out of the trees when he wants to, but from what I gather he kept to himself a lot in school. Always being the new kid, he got picked on quite a bit. He put up with it for a very long time. He'd never say anything to me about it, but his teachers would tell me how it was. After a few incidents I told him, despite what the teachers had instructed him to do, that if anyone got physical with him he should hit back with everything he had, and he had my permission to do so."

Kate nodded in understanding, hurting for the boy Martha described.

"Anyway, he came home looking like he'd been in a war. I was horrified, but he was smiling. Smiling. I asked him what had happened and he said three boys had tried to beat him up for his lunch money. I remember him wiping his bloody nose on his sleeve and pulling some things out of his pockets. He told me not only had he hit back this time—and his raw knuckles attested to that—but he'd managed, while wrestling around, to get something from each of the boys. They got his lunch money, but he got a set of house keys from one boy, a comb from the back pocket of another, and a Swiss army knife from the third. He was so proud of himself. A day or so later the boys came around wanting their stuff back. I remember he was standing at the door talking to them, and I was happy to see they didn't look much better than he did. Richard made them pay him to return their stuff." Martha chuckled. "Well, the boy with the comb really didn't care about getting it back, but the other two paid good money to get their things returned. Richard made a tidy little profit and they never bothered him again."

Kate and Martha shared a smile.

"Apparently he got some street cred for the incident. That's about the time girls started calling the house asking for 'Rick.' Up until then he'd always been my Ricky, but now he was Rick."

Kate couldn't help but smile at Martha using the term 'street cred.'

Martha leaned closer. "He's always getting himself in these situations. I finally realized it's all part of having a son with a quick mind and an active imagination, but he always recovers and moves on, no matter how many gray hairs he gives me." She was quiet for a moment and then she sniffled, wiping her nose and eyes with her handkerchief. "It'll be the same this time, won't it, Kate?"

"Oh, Martha." Kate could barely speak past the lump in her throat. She held Martha and let her weep quietly for a few moments. The guilt Kate felt almost overwhelmed her. She pulled back, intending to say something to Martha, to tell her how this was all her, Kate's, fault, but all she could say, plaintively, was, "Martha."

Martha looked into her eyes and Kate could see when the realization hit her. She gripped Kate's wrist in her hand and said, "No, no. You listen to me Kate Beckett. You are in no way responsible for this. I will not have you taking on the burden of guilt for what happened. Richard is entirely responsible for his own actions. I'm sure even now if you could ask him, he would say he'd do the same thing all over again if it would save your life. He loves you, Kate. The only people responsible in this situation are Richard and the men who shot him, do you hear me?"

Kate nodded for Martha's benefit, but in her mind it changed nothing.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Worst Case Scenario Chapter III

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, maybe a little romance

Summary: It all went horribly wrong

Spoilers: None

Archive: yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this, it's a labor of love.

#######

Time passed slowly in the waiting room. Esposito and Ryan made endless runs for coffee. Ryan called Jenny numerous times. Martha and Alexis dozed, leaning against each other. Kate was lost in thought, remembering the morning before her world had fallen apart. _She had spent the night at Castle's loft, something she did only rarely. With Alexis there and Martha staying occasionally, Kate felt uncomfortable displaying the fact she was sleeping with Rick, not to mention the inevitable 'walk of shame' she had to face in the morning. Rick, darn him, thought it was funny._

_This morning he had awoken her with kisses to her shoulders and neck as he was spooning with her. He pulled her hair away from her neck and kissed her behind the ear. She hummed with pleasure as she woke up, and hugged his arms to her. _

"_Good morning," He murmured._

"'_Morning."_

_He nuzzled her hair. "I love waking up and finding you in my bed, detective."_

_Kate smiled. "I like being here, Mr. Castle." She turned her head to meet his mouth._

_After a few moments he said, "Hey, I heard an interesting song the other day on the station Alexis listens to," he murmured as he found new places on her to press his lips._

"_Oh?" She was a bit distracted by his touch, but tried to focus on what he was saying._

"_Yeah, one of the lines was, 'Call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bed rock.'"_

_Kate snorted and pushed his face away from her with one hand. "Oh my God. That is terrible," but she was chuckling despite herself._

_He grinned at her and then lowered his head to nip sharply at her neck. She wasn't expecting it and squawked out loud in surprise._

"_Shh, we have to be quiet," he cautioned. _

_Then he'd rolled her over onto her back and proceeded to gleefully torture her. He used everything at his disposal to cause her to make a loud enough noise that the other occupants of the house might hear. "Shhh," he whispered as he used his body, hands, mouth and-dear God-his tongue, to get the desired result from her. "You must be vewy, vewy quiet." This in his best Elmer Fudd voice._

_ She huffed out a laugh that quickly turned into moan."You, are evil," she commented. He laughed evilly and continued to torment her._

_Of course, Kate was doing absolutely nothing to stop him. She chuckled as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, smoothing the warm skin of his back with one hand and the back of his head with the other, just enjoying the intimacy. "Oh, my God," she breathed. "You are in so much trouble, mister." She tried to sound stern, but couldn't hide her amusement._

_ It was at that point he performed a maneuver that nearly made her eyes roll back in her head. Instead of crying out, though, she raised her head and bit him in the shoulder. _

_He gave a sharp shout and pulled back. He looked at her in shock._

_ "You bit me!"_

_ Kate, laughing, put her finger to her lips. "Shh, you have to be very quiet."_

_ He smiled at her, his hair all over the place, and a very sexy growth of beard on his face. "Brat. Oh, okay. I can see how it is. I guess I'm going to have to pull out the big guns," and he started kissing his way down her body disappearing under the covers. _

_ "No, no, Rick, stop, stop." She made a few futile grabs for his head and/or shoulders._

_ Kate finally had to snatch up a pillow and put it over her face to muffle the sound._

Esposito broke her reverie by coming and sitting next to her, and the weight of the day descended back onto her shoulders. "Did you ever get that arm looked at?"

Kate shook her head. "There was never time." At his look she added. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

He shook his head and without a word got up and walked out of the waiting room. He was back in a few minutes, followed by a young woman with a blonde pony tail wearing scrubs.

"Karen, this is Detective Beckett. Beckett, this is Karen who is going to take care of your arm."

Martha rose from her seat, catching Kate's attention. Alexis was awake and looking concerned, too. "Kate," Martha said. "You're hurt?"

Kate shook her head and gave Esposito a pointed look. "It's nothing, really, just a scratch I haven't had time to take care of."

"Well, you do now," Esposito said. "Go with Karen." Karen gave her an encouraging smile.

Giving Esposito another look to let him know she was unhappy with him, Kate rose and followed the nurse into one of the examination rooms.

Karen had her get up onto the table. "If you'll just remove your jacket," she said as she put some things on the prep tray.

Kate did as she was told, wincing as her arm protested. The graze looked red and angry. It was raised and oozing blood in places. "A bullet did this?" Karen asked.

Kate nodded. "We were in a shootout this morning. The bullet just missed me."

Karen shook her head. "Oh, no, detective, the bullet didn't miss you at all or you wouldn't have this." She put a gauze pad with some antiseptic on Kate's arm and Kate hissed in pain.

"I'm sorry, but we need to get it cleaned before we can dress it," Karen said in sympathy.

Kate gritted her teeth, just waiting for it to be over, when she heard a gasp from the doorway. Martha was standing there looking horrified.

"My God, Kate. This happened this morning?"

"Martha," Kate said. "You shouldn't be in here."

Martha came toward her and took her hand. "Kate, I can't believe you've gone all day with this without any care. Didn't those bastards at the commissioner's office give you a chance to get medical care? What kind of monsters are they?"

Kate was touched by Martha's motherly concern for her and squeezed her hand. "They didn't know, Martha. I'd put on a jacket by then and they had no idea."

"Well, darling, you should have said something."

"Really, I was more concerned for…" Kate stopped when she saw she'd just reminded Martha of her son's condition. Kate's eyes fell from Martha's. Martha patted her good arm.

"We all are, kiddo. That doesn't mean you should neglect yourself. Richard would be the first one to tell you…" her voice thickened and she stopped, tears in her eyes. Kate felt a lump in her throat as well, but tried to swallow it down. The two women looked into each other's eyes and an understanding passed between them.

"Well," Martha said. "I should go back and check on Alexis-unless you want me to stay with you?"

Kate shook her head, again touched at Martha's concern. "No, that's fine. I'll be done in a few minutes. You go check on Alexis."

Martha squeezed Kate's good shoulder, and with a nod and a short smile to the nurse, left them to it.

Karen applied a soothing topical gel to Kate's wound, then taped several gauze pads over it to keep it covered.

"Keep this covered as much as you can. It will scab over in the next couple of days, but it will be pretty raw until then."

Kate thanked Karen for her help and went back to the waiting room. She stopped in the doorway when she saw everyone gathered around a man in green surgical scrubs.

"Kate," Martha gestured for her to join them. "This is Dr. Mathias. He performed the surgery on Richard. Doctor, this is Detective Kate Beckett."

Dr. Mathias acknowledged Kate with a nod. "As I was saying, Mr. Castle made it through the surgery and is in recovery now. One of the bullets was a through-and-through, piercing his shoulder and exiting his upper chest," at this, Alexis started to cry again, and Martha put an arm around her. Dr. Mathias paused for a moment, but then continued "The other bullet embedded itself in his left lung. That's why his lung collapsed on the way here. The paramedics applied a chest tube so he could breathe. We've removed the bullet and repaired his lung. I want to warn you, he's in critical condition. Once he leaves recovery he'll be taken to ICU."

Kate suddenly realized she was squeezing Martha's hand so hard it had to hurt and let go. It was then she became aware that Esposito had an arm around her and she was sure the hand on her shoulder from behind was Ryan. That nearly undid her, but she took a deep breath and got hold of herself.

"Doctor, can we see him?" Martha asked.

"In a little while. When we get him settled in ICU, I'll have a nurse come get you." At Martha's nod he added. "But not too many people at one time. Family only. Just you and his daughter, okay?"

Kate felt as if the floor had disappeared from under her feet. She wasn't going to get to see him.

"What about Kate?" Alexis asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, I need to be firm about this. Family only."

Martha grabbed Kate's hand and said firmly. "Kate _is_ family, doctor."

Alexis said, "Yeah," in an indignant tone.

"No, Martha, Alexis, it's all right," Kate said, feeling it was anything but.

"No, it's not," Martha said firmly.

Dr. Mathias looked from one woman to the other, seeing the distress in their eyes. Finally he nodded. "All right, Detective Beckett can go, too. It will be a while, though." With that he left them to it.

#######

The waiting this time was filled with anticipation. Rick had made it through the surgery and soon they would be able to see him. That made it seem all the longer. The hours they had waited previously paled in comparison to this.

Finally a nurse appeared in the doorway. "I have Mr. Castle settled in ICU. If the family would like to come back, I'll take you."

Kate rose to follow Martha and Alexis, but was stopped by a hand on her arm from Esposito. "Ryan and I are going to head back to the precinct. You tell Castle to get his sorry butt back on his feet and get back to the 12th, okay?"

Kate gave him a tight smile. "I'll tell him."

"And you, me and Ryan are going to get Carter Booth's ass for this, right?"

Kate's smile faded. "You and Ryan are. I've been suspended pending a further inquiry."

"What? What the fuck? Why didn't you tell us? They're pinning all this on you?" Esposito voice rivaled Ryan's who was as indignant as Esposito.

"Dammit!" Ryan said.

"I was lead detective, remember?" Before they could respond she said, "Listen, we can talk about this later, I have to go," and hurried to catch up with Martha and Alexis.

#######

The nurse led them down the hall and through a set of automatic doors. They turned a corner and were directed to a room with a large glass window in it.

They all stopped at the door. Rick was lying motionless in the bed, the hospital gown pulled down on his injured side to show a large padded bandage over his wounds, and he was attached to several tubes and wires. He had an oxygen mask over his face and was absolutely, utterly still.

Alexis began to cry again, and went over to grasp his arm. "Daddy," she sobbed, bowing her head.

Martha stood on the other side of the bed and stroked the side of his face with the back of her hand. She held his face on one side and kissed his cheek gently on the other. "Richard,' she said softly. "It's mother. We're all here. Alexis, Kate and I are here, darling." Her voice shook and she sniffled.

Kate stood at the end of the bed, motionless. Rick, the Rick she knew, was never this still and it scared her. All the guilt and horror of the day washed over her in great waves and her vision blurred.

Without a word she turned and fled.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Worst Case Scenario Chapter IV

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, maybe a little romance

Summary: It all went horribly wrong

Spoilers: None

Archive: yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this, it's a labor of love.

Author's Note: I dared to make Kate a lapsed Catholic in this one. It just seems to fit.

#######

Kate didn't know where she was going, she just had to get away. She couldn't face Rick in that bed right now. She somehow made it from the emergency room area to the main lobby of the hospital. She paused, trying to decide what to do, when Rick's face appeared on the large television sitting among the chairs and couches, and she heard the words,

"_Mystery author Richard Castle was shot today while assisting NYPD in the investigation of a warehouse believed to be owned by drug dealer Carter Booth. Castle is reported to be in critical condition. It is not known what responsibility the New York City Police Department has in this incident, but…" _

Kate put her head down and got as far away from that television as she could. Great, this meant the press was probably around somewhere. Martha and Alexis were protected by being in ICU, but Kate was fair game if she happened to run across them, and most of the press knew her on sight by now. She eventually ended up in a corridor leading toward an exit door. She headed that way but stopped when she saw what looked like paparazzi outside the door, and their excited reaction when they saw her confirmed it. She could _not_ deal with that right now. She ducked down a hallway and into the nearest door and stopped.

She was in the chapel. The Catholic chapel. What were the odds?

Kate hadn't stepped foot in a church since her mother's death. She had completely turned her back on her faith when God had taken her mother. If it was God's will that her mother be killed like that, then she wanted nothing to do with Him. If it wasn't His will, then why did it happen?

She nearly turned and left, but it was so quiet in here, so peaceful. The candles in their red cups guttered softly, and she had the whole chapel to herself. When she was young, ritual and ceremony meant something to her. They were important, she took comfort in them. She'd forgotten what that was like.

She approached the first row of pews, and faced the crucifix on the wall in front of her. Without thinking, she genuflected, crossed herself and sat down. God wouldn't mind her hiding out in here while she collected herself, would He?

She thought of Rick in that hospital bed and despair washed over her again. She looked up into Jesus' face for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to pray for Rick, would it? Would God listen to her after all this time?

She pulled down the kneeling bench with her foot and knelt. She crossed herself again and clasped her hands together. As she tried to gather her thoughts, all of the emotions she had been suppressing, fear, guilt, grief, clawed their way to the surface and the only words she got out were, "God, please don't take him, _please," _before she broke down and finally wept.

#######

Kate cried until her throat hurt. Great wracking sobs were dragged from her body. Now that she'd started she couldn't seem to stop. Until someone grabbed her arms and pulled her up. "Oh honey," they said and held Kate to them.

Startled, Kate pulled back to look into the face of the intruder. "Lanie," she said. She hiccupped a few times and sniffled, running her hand under her nose.

Lanie handed Kate some Kleenex and hugged her again. "I am so sorry I couldn't make it here before now, but I had those three shooters to take care of before I came. I talked to Javi and he filled me in. He, uh, told me you might need me. I went to ICU and Martha told me what happened."

"They let you come back there?"

"Being a medical examiner has some benefits. Martha and Alexis are very worried about you. They couldn't leave Castle, so I told them I'd find you. I looked all over before I tried in here." She wiped a tear from Kate's face with her thumb. "Honey, I am so, so sorry for what happened."

Kate wiped her eyes with the tissues and blew her nose softly. She couldn't meet Lanie's eyes when she asked, "Did you see him?"

"Yeah, I did" She was quiet for a moment. "I know it looks bad, but I also know he's a fighter. He's not going to give up without a struggle." When Kate didn't respond, Lanie added, "You know that, too, right?"

Kate looked into her eyes without comment. Lanie put a hand on Kate's cheek. "Sweetie, he's not going to miss seeing his little girl grow up and he 's not going to leave you, now that you two have finally got some sense and have admitted you love each other. He's crazy about you, Kate. Anyone with eyes in their head can see it, and now that he knows you feel the same, you think he's just going to call it a day?" She shook her head. "No way. "

Kate looked down at the tissues in her hands, which she'd pretty much shredded now. "He may not have any choice in the matter." The spectre of her mother suddenly filled the room.

Lanie immediately understood. "Kate, he's alive. He's going to stay that way. You have to believe that, too."

Kate shook her head and dabbed at her eyes. "It's not just that, Lanie. This is all my fault." She started to cry again. "If he hadn't put himself in front of me, I'd be the one in that hospital bed now." She sniffled and brushed away a tear. "Maybe it would have been better if it was me."

"Now, don't talk like that." Lanie started.

"Because of me he might be taken away from Alexis and Martha."

Lanie put an arm around her. "And if it was you, he'd be the one grieving. No one is responsible except for those men that shot him."

"That's what Martha said."

"Well, she's right. What could you have done differently?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing. It all happened so quickly I didn't even know what was going on until he was on me, shielding me from behind."

"Then stop beating yourself up for this and get back there. He _needs_ you." Lanie rose, expecting Kate to follow. Kate rose, too, wiping her eyes and nose, but said, "I'll be up soon. Can I have a minute?"

Lanie looked around her and nodded in understanding. "Sure. I'll be just outside."

As the door closed Kate went over and knelt in front of the candles. She lit a taper from one of the lit candles and lit another one for Rick. She clasped her hands and bowed her head and said a small prayer for him. She crossed herself and rose, feeling somewhat better. Lanie was right. She needed to be there for him.

#######

As Lanie and Kate entered Rick's room, she noted not much had changed. Martha sat to one side of the bed, and Alexis had scooted a chair closer so she could hold her father's hand.

Martha looked up and seeing Kate, rose to come forward and take Kate into a tight hug. "Oh honey, you've had a hell of a day, haven't you?" Kate watered up again at that and held Martha for a few moments, taking the comfort she offered. Finally she pulled back, sniffling. "We all have Martha, but thanks."

Martha smiled at her and put a hand to Kate's face. Then she looked at Lanie. "Lanie, thank you for finding her. We were worried about you, Kate."

"I'm sorry I took off like that."

Martha shook her head. "No, no. Don't be sorry. Come on, have a seat, you two."

"How's he doing?" Kate asked.

Martha looked back toward the bed. "No change so far. He hasn't responded to either of us, but maybe it's too soon."

Kate looked at Rick. He had not moved at all since she'd left. She took her seat and the vigil began.

#######

A long time later, Martha startled them all by suddenly standing. "I can't sit like this anymore. Alexis and I haven't eaten all day. If you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to take her down to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat."

"That's fine, Martha," Kate said,

"Gram, I don't want to leave dad," Alexis said.

"Kate and Lanie are here with him. If anything happens they'll call me on my cell, right?"

Both Kate and Lanie nodded. "Go get something to eat, Lex. We'll be right here." Kate assured her. Alexis reluctantly released her father's hand and stood.

"Can I get either of you anything?" Martha asked.

Both women shook their heads 'no.' "I have to leave in a little while," Lanie said by way of explanation."

"All right, and Kate, I'm getting you something whether you like it or not."

#######

Kate and Lanie sat silently for a while until Lanie's pager chirped. She checked the readout and sighed. "Honey, I'm going to have to go. Duty calls. Are you going to be okay?"

Kate forced a smile. "I'll be okay. Go ahead. And thanks Lanie."

Lanie hugged her tightly. "Anytime, sweetie. Anytime. Tell Mr. Castle there I'll be back to see him soon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

After Lanie left Kate realized she was finally alone with Rick. She rose from her chair, never taking her eyes off him and moved slowly to the side of the bed near his head. She put one arm along to top of his pillow, and brushed the hair away from his brow gently with the other, then she slipped her hand into his. She leaned in to press the bridge of her nose against his temple and breathed him in, closing her eyes.

In a low voice she said, "Don't think I'm not still very, very angry with you, Rick Castle. You shouldn't have done what you did today. If those bullets were meant for me, then you had no business taking them for me. And then Esposito tells me you…" She had to steel herself to continue. "He told me your heart stopped in the ambulance on the way here. _No. No_." He r voice shook. "You can _not_ do that. You can't leave me. I will _not_ let you go, do you hear me? I have some very big plans for you, Richard Castle, and they involve us growing into little old people together, surrounded by children and grandchildren and dying in each other's arms on the same day, a long, long time from now, you got that? So, you do what you have to do to come back to me, mister, because I won't accept anything less." She kissed his temple and added, "I love you so much, Rick. With all my heart. Please, please come back to me."

She gasped when she felt him gently squeeze her hand.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Worst Case Scenario V

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, Romance

Summary: In the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong.

Spoilers: None.

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

#######

He'd squeezed her hand. Kate froze, looking down at their hands in shock. "Rick," she put her hand on his cheek. "Rick, can you hear me? Are you trying to come back to us?" A shiver went through her when he mumbled something under the oxygen mask. She pulled it away to see if he'd try to say something, but he was gone again. He'd slipped back into unconsciousness.

She called Martha and Alexis immediately and told them what happened. "We'll be right up," Martha said. However, by the time they returned neither one of them could get him to respond. Kate felt terrible. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called before I was sure he was coming around."

Martha gave her a wan smile and squeezed her shoulder. "It's all right, kiddo. It's enough to know you saw some signs of life in him." Alexis nodded in agreement.

Eventually they all settled in for the vigil. The three women tried to find a comfortable position in the chairs they occupied so they could sleep.

Kate actually managed to doze off, absolutely exhausted from the events of the day. She didn't know how long she slept before something made her open her eyes again. She looked over to Martha and Alexis, and both were sound asleep. She looked over at the hospital bed and something clutched at her heart. Rick's eyes were open, and he was staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. He'd pulled off the oxygen mask and it was now down around his neck.

For a second she thought… She surged to her feet and went to him. "Rick," she almost fainted from relief when his eyes turned toward her. "Rick, you're awake." She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Rick gave her an unfocussed look before reaching up to take her wrist in his hand. "Kate," he said in a raspy voice. "Water."

"Oh, here you go." She got the Styrofoam cup with the straw from the side table and held it so he could take a sip. It looked like it was an effort to swallow, but he took another sip and that seemed to go down easier.

"Rick, are you in pain? Should I get the nurse?" Kate asked anxiously. He shook his head 'no.'

"Kate, listen to me. You remember what you promised about Alexis?" The fist clenched tighter around Kate's heart.

"Yes, yes, of course I remember, but it's not going to be necessary. You're going to be fine."

It was as if she hadn't spoken. "My will is in the safe in my office. Call my lawyer, he'll take care of everything."

"Rick, no, listen to me…" but he was gone again leaving Kate more shaken than before.

#######

The next day, Kate got a call from Captain Montgomery. He wanted her to come in and discuss the disciplinary action she faced. She explained to him that she hadn't been home since the shooting had occurred and requested some time to go home and take a shower and change clothes before coming in. She told Martha and Alexis what had happened the night before, and asked that they call her if Rick should awaken again.

Both had given her a hug before she left. "Listen, honey, do you want me to call Chet? He plays golf with the commissioner. It's absolutely ridiculous that they would hold you responsible."

"Thank you, Martha, but no. I have to work this out on my own."

"Come back as soon as you can, Kate," Alexis added. Kate nodded to her and with one last look at Rick, she headed toward the elevators.

#######

Three hours later Kate left the precinct with a throbbing headache. Montgomery told her that despite his efforts and that of Esposito and Ryan, the commissioner was determined to serve someone's head up on a platter for the incident, and that someone was Kate as lead detective. IA had been called in and it seemed Kate was to take the fall no matter what anyone else said.

Kate unlocked her car door and got in, leaning her head against the steering wheel. She had the overwhelming urge to just run away from everything, but she knew it wouldn't help matters. She took a deep breath and started the ignition, when her phone rang. What now? She thought.

"Beckett."

"Kate?" It was Alexis. "You need to come back here as soon as you can." She was very upset.

"What is it? What's happened, Alexis?'

"Dad's awake and he won't believe us. He thinks something happened to you and we won't tell him because of his condition."

Kate sighed in relief. He was awake. She gave a silent prayer of thanks and said, "Let me talk to him."

There were several scuffling noises as the phone was passed and then, "Kate? "

"I hear you're not being a particularly good patient, Mr. Castle." She sniffled softly and wiped a tear away.

"Oh, thank God, Kate. I thought, I thought…"

"Rick, I'm fine. I talked to you last night, don't you remember?"

"I talked to you last night?" He sounded confused.

"Briefly. Those pain meds are really doing their job, aren't they?"

"Apparently." He was calmer now.

After a short silence while Kate tried to compose herself she said, "How are you doing? Are you in pain?"

"No, not much. I just feel kinda floaty."

Kate smiled through her tears. "Floaty's good, right?"

"When are you coming back, Kate?" He asked softly.

"I'm on my way right now."

#######

When she got to the room, Rick was sitting up in bed scowling at a cup of orange Jell-o. The oxygen mask had been replaced with a tube. He looked up and said, "Hey, there you are." For all the world like the old Rick, but maybe a bit weaker, and his breathing was a bit labored. When she didn't respond the smile faded from his face and he said, "What? It's my hair, isn't it?" He made some motions around his head like he was going to straighten it.

It was such a prime example of typical Rick deflecting when things got too heavy that Kate's eyes filled again. She tried to smile but all she could say was, "Jerk."

He held out a hand to her and she went to him, cupping his cheek and kissing him softly.

"How are you doing?" She asked him again.

"I'm doing okay. They've given me some of the best pain drugs money can buy. Party." He held up his spoon as exclamation. "How are _you_ doing?" He was just too observant sometimes.

Kate sighed. "I'm fine."

"Liar." He looked at her patiently.

Kate shook her head. "Fine. You want the truth? The last 24 hours have been some of the worst in my life. I thought I was going to lose you. What were you thinking?" Some of her anger started to return.

"I didn't have time to think about much. I saw the gun pointed at you and I reacted. If it's any consolation, I didn't mean to get shot. My intention was to pull you to the side, but it all happened so fast."

Kate squeezed his hand. "You had no business doing what you did. It was not your place to do that."

Rick cocked his head to the side. "I seem to recall something about your plan for us to become little old people together, is that right?"

Kate's mouth fell open. "You heard me?"

"Just bits and pieces. I was pretty much in and out."

"Well then, yes. You have no business messing up my plans, mister."

He gave her a soft smile. "Got it. Duly noted." They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Kate looked away to ask, "Where are Martha and Alexis?"

Rick scowled. "Those traitors went down to the cafeteria while the nurse got me settled."

Kate frowned. "Now, why would you call them traitors?"

"Because I'm stuck eating Jell-o and broth and they refused to smuggle up any real food for me."

"I think the hospital staff wants to make sure you can keep down a light diet before giving you anything heavier."

"Hmmpff."

Just then the 'traitors' returned. "Kate, you're back," Martha said, giving her a hug.

"Yeah, how's Mr. Grumpy doing?" Alexis added, going to Rick's side and putting a hand on his arm.

"Mr. Grumpy is doing just fine, thank you very much." Rick stuck his tongue out at his daughter, obviously trying to act as normal as possible around her.

"Has the doctor been in?" Kate asked.

"Yes, he seems to think Richard is doing as well as can be expected," Martha replied, taking a seat.

"Hello? I'm right here," Rick waved his spoon in the air before taking a bit of Jell-o.

"See?" Alexis said. "Mr. Grumpy."

#######

Later in the day, Kate excused herself to head to the ladies room, and when she came back, all conversation stopped. Rick, Alexis and Martha all turned serious eyes on her. Kate frowned. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Of course not, darling," Martha said. Alexis gave her a small smile, but Rick was still looking at her in a very concerned way.

"Kate," he held out a hand to her. "Listen, I want you to do something for me." She took his hand.

"Absolutely, anything."

"I'm glad to hear you say that. I want you to go home and get some sleep. Mother tells me you've been awake since the shooting. She also told me you were injured." He pushed up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal the start of the bandages covering the graze on her arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kate removed her hand and pulled the sleeve back down. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Kate, please, I'm just going to be hanging around here eating my Jell-o. You need to get some rest and something to eat. I'd bet good money you haven't eaten enough today to keep a gerbil alive, am I right?" He raised an eyebrow.

Kate raised her chin. "I've never had a gerbil, I wouldn't know."

"Kate," He took her hand again. "Please, do it for me?" Kate looked at him and then at Martha and Alexis, who were also watching her anxiously.

Kate finally nodded reluctantly. "All right. I'll just get a few hours sleep and then I'll be back, okay?"

"You'd better be," Rick said gruffly.

#######

As she walked in her front door, the exhaustion she'd been fighting came back full force. She had planned on taking a long bath before bed, but she was so tired she barely managed to change out of her clothes before falling into bed.

It was dark out when she awoke and she was disoriented for a few minutes. What time was it? Where was she supposed to be? She looked at her alarm clock. It was 6:30. She had slept dreamlessly for over four hours.

She got up and put on her robe and scuffed out to the kitchen. She found she was actually hungry and opened the fridge. Then she closed it again. She really needed to get groceries. She pulled out her folder of take-out menus and was deciding what to order when someone knocked at the front door. Mild panic rose in her throat as went to look through the peep hole.

"Lanie."

"Hey, sweetie."

"What are you doing here?"

"Can't I check up on my friend? Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure." Kate moved aside to let Lanie in.

"So, you're home. I hope this means Castle is doing better."

"Yeah, he's awake and fussing about the food."

"Sounds like he's on the mend."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Kate gestured toward the couch and the two women settled there. "So, what's going on, Lanie?" Lanie looked at her and put a hand over Kate's.

"Listen. I looked over the bullets retrieved from your shooting. I, uh, found something."

"Okay, what?"

"I have debated all day whether to tell you or not, but you have the right to know."

Kate frowned. "What is it?"

"You know one of the bullets that hit Castle was a through and through, right?"

"Yes." Kate wondered where this was going.

"Well, I took swabs of the bullet and found…"

Kate sat, but said, "What? Tell me."

Lanie sighed heavily. "Look, this can wait until tomorrow. I shouldn't have disturbed you at home." She started to rise, but Kate wouldn't let go of her hand.

"Lanie," Kate's voice was firm. "Tell me."

After a short silence, Lanie said, "Okay. The bullet that passed through Castle had tissue traces on it both from him…and from you."

Kate's mind refused to process this. "What are you saying?"

"Honey, the bullet that injured you is the one that had just passed through Castle. It exited his upper chest and grazed your arm."

Kate felt the room spin. "Oh my God." She put a hand to her mouth.

"Kate," Lanie tried to grab her arms, but Kate pulled away.

Without another word she stumbled to the bathroom and vomited.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Worst Case Scenario VI

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, Romance

Summary: In the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong.

Spoilers: None.

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

#######

Lanie felt so terrible for upsetting Kate she insisted on staying the night to look after Kate. "Lanie, it's okay, you don't have to," Kate protested.

"No, honey, I shouldn't have dropped a bomb like that on you after the last couple of days you've had. I know you're about at the end of your rope. I'm staying to make sure you get some sleep. Maybe we can talk in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," Kate said softly, suddenly feeling exhausted. Kate got Lanie a blanket and a pillow for the couch, and Kate headed off to bed.

"Call me if you need anything," Lanie said before Kate shut her door.

"Thanks, Lanie," Kate said.

#######

Kate didn't sleep at all. She didn't want Lanie to know, so she spent the night leaning against the headboard, running everything over and over in her mind in an endless circle. The horror she felt at Lanie's news of the bullet was indeed, the straw that had broken the camel's back. She'd nearly lost him. She had to do something. Finally, at dawn, she fell into a fitful sleep.

She was awakened sometime later when Lanie burst through her door.

"Girl, you have to come see this!"

"See, what?" Kate murmured. Lanie pulled on her hand.

"I turned on the TV to watch my soap and instead there's a press conference. Come on!"

Kate followed her friend with a feeling of dread. Presumably the Police Commissioner was holding a press conference to serve Kate up as the culprit in this whole mess.

A distinguished looking man was standing at the podium. He was someone she'd never seen before. He was tall, with silver hair, wearing a very expensive looking suit and reading glasses. Several cameras flashed as he took some papers from his inside pocket and placed them in front of him. The logo for the hospital was on the wall behind him.

"Ladies and gentleman, my name is Emerson Kennerly. I am Richard Castle's attorney."

Kate and Lanie exchanged looks.

"As you all know, Mr. Castle was injured in a shoot-out several days ago, when shadowing the police during an investigation. He wants everyone to know he's doing much better and he is going to be fine." Kate frowned when the camera panned to reveal Martha and Alexis standing to the side.

Kennerly continued. "Mr. Castle is concerned that the Police Commissioner is holding the team he was shadowing responsible for the matter, particularly lead detective, Kate Beckett."

"What's he…?" Kate began, when Lanie shushed her and squeezed her hand.

"He's making sure you don't take the fall, honey."

Kennerly looked to Martha. "Mr. Castle's mother, Martha Rodgers would like to make a statement in his behalf."

As Martha took Kennerly's place at the podium, a several flashbulbs went off. Alexis stood beside her and held her hand. Martha put on her glasses and gave the room a tight smile.

"Good morning. My son very much wanted to be here himself this morning, but clearly he's not in any shape to do so right now, so Alexis and I will be speaking for him." Alexis gave her grandmother a small smile.

Martha continued, "Our family wants it known that we do not in any way hold the City of New York, the police department and especially detective Kate Beckett in any way responsible for what happened to my son." She stopped and looked up, sighed an exasperated sigh, and said the one word that nearly took the breath out of Kate's lungs—"Richard!" At the same time Alexis said, "Dad!"

There was a flurry of activity in the back of the room and a thousand flashbulbs went off. The camera panned back and there was Rick, looking very pale as he rose from a wheel chair, his arm in a sling and a suit jacket slung over his hospital-issued robe.

Kate jumped to her feet with her hand over her mouth. "What the hell is he doing out of bed?" Her voice was breathless. Without taking her eyes from the TV, Lanie just shook her head.

As Rick made his way slowly to the front of the room, the reporters shouted questions at him and the flashbulbs continued to go off. "Mr. Castle, how are you doing?" "Where's Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle?" "Is it true you two are romantically involved?" The shouting continued, but Rick ignored them all. Martha and Alexis intercepted him and each took an arm to help him to the podium. Emerson Kennerly put a hand on Rick's shoulder and said something in his ear. Rick nodded and said something in return.

As Martha and Alexis helped him up onto the platform, Kennerly said, "Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Castle would like to make his own statement. In deference to his condition his statement will be brief and he will not be answering any questions. He gestured to Rick, who took his place in front of the podium, Martha and Alexis on either side of him. As he took some paper from his jacket pocket and was about to speak, a couple of the hospital orderlies came up and took the podium off the platform so it was about waist high to Castle, and wheeled his wheelchair up so he could sit while he made his statement. Rick nodded to them gratefully and took a seat.

"Good morning," He said into the microphone. Several people in the room returned the greeting.

To Kate he sounded good, if a little weak. He glanced down at his statement.

"As my mother and Mr. Kennerly have already said, we have been concerned about any disciplinary action that may be taken by the City and the Police Commissioner against the team I have been shadowing, most especially Detective Kate Beckett. She is in no way responsible for my condition and as my mother has said, our family does not hold the New York City Police Department in any way responsible for the incident. "

"When I started shadowing the police I signed a statement saying I would be responsible for my own actions in these situations, and needless to say, this one was an unusual event. The information regarding the warehouse we entered was that Carter Booth's people had abandoned it for another location and it would be empty. If there had been any doubt as to validity of this information, I can assure you Detective Beckett would not have allowed me to accompany them on the investigation." Rick looked around the room before continuing, making sure his words were understood.

"Detective Beckett has always been very by-the-book when it comes to procedure, despite my efforts to stick my nose in where it doesn't belong." There was a smattering of subdued laughter from the audience. "I am concerned she is being held up as a scapegoat in this situation and I must object in the strongest terms. I feel so strongly about the matter that nothing else would have made me get out of my hospital bed today so I could address this personally. I, and the men who shot me are the only ones responsible for what happened. To place blame where it doesn't belong would be absolutely wrong, and my family and I would fight such a miscarriage of justice with all the legal counsel we have at our disposal." He glanced up at Kennerly with a grin. "Which I am happy to say, is considerable. Thank you for your time. I want to thank everyone for their good wishes. Thank you." Questions and flashes went off in equally rapid succession, as Martha and Alexis wheeled Rick away from the podium.

To Kate, he looked absolutely wiped out and she wanted to reach out and touch him.

"Well, I guess he told them," Lanie said, as Kate watched Martha and Alexis wheel him from the room.

Kate, stunned, could only nod.

#######

Kate waited several minutes before she called him. She knew he had a ring tone just for her, so he would answer if he could.

Sure enough, he picked up on the third ring. "Hey," he said. He sounded tired.

"Richard Castle, what were you thinking? You have no business being out of bed." Kate tried to sound stern.

She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "See what kind of things I get into when you're not around to keep an eye on me?"

They were silent for a few moments and then Kate said softly, "Thank you, but you shouldn't have."

"Why didn't you tell me you'd been suspended?" His voice dropped an octave.

"Because you have enough to deal with right now. I didn't want to worry you. It's something I can deal with myself."

"I won't let them hang you out to dry for this."

"Rick…" Kate began when he cut her off.

"We can discuss this when you come back, okay? Make it soon. I miss you."

Kate looked down at the floor. "Uh, I don't know when I'll be able to come back I need to check in with Captain Montgomery." Lanie, who knew this to be a lie, looked at her with wide eyes but didn't say anything.

When Kate got off the phone, Lanie said, "Kate, what are you doing?"

Kate avoided her gaze and said, "I'm not doing anything, Lanie. I'm going to take a shower," and headed toward her bedroom.

#######

As it turned out, several hours later Captain Montgomery did call her.

"Beckett, have you seen the evening papers?"

"No, sir."

"I have just two in front of me. One says, 'Castle Leaves Hospital Bed To Defend Beckett,' and the other says, 'Castle Family Rallies Around Beckett.' Commissioner Benson is livid."

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes, sir. For what it's worth, I didn't know they were going to hold the press conference until it was actually happening."

"I believe you, Beckett, but the Police Department is going to have to hold a press conference of their own to counter this one. You won't be required to make a statement, but you may have to be present."

Kate thought for a moment. "Yes, sir, but if you don't mind, I want to make a statement if I could."

"Are you sure about this, Beckett? The press smells blood in the water and you're their primary target right now."

Kate pushed down the feeling of dread that was trying to claw its way out of her and said, "I understand, sir."

#######

Kate called Rick a while later and told him about the press conference.

"I want you to know, I'm going to make a statement." She said softly.

"Are you sure? The captain said you didn't have to speak if you didn't want to."

"I want to. "

"Do you want me to be there for you?" He said softly.

"You need to stay in bed. I can handle this myself."

"Okay. If you're sure. Are you coming back tonight?"

"I don't think so. The captain says the place is swarming with reporters just waiting for some sign of me."

Rick sighed heavily. "Yeah, you're probably right. It'd be a feeding frenzy. I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

Kate closed her eyes for a moment. "Tomorrow."

#######

The next day, Kate entered the small auditorium at the Police Commissioners office, wearing her dress uniform. She kept her eyes facing forward, ignoring the reporters, who surged to their feet taking at the site of her taking pictures and yelling questions at her. She was definitely the one everyone was here to see, the main attraction.

Commissioner Benson took the podium, and Kate took a seat behind him, with Captain Montgomery on one side of her, and Esposito and Ryan on the other.

Commissioner Benson stood and addressed the press, stating the reason for the actions of his office in regard to the incident, but then he said, "We regret that Mr. Castle was injured while accompanying our people on an investigation. Captain Montgomery tells me Mr. Castle has been of great assistance in several other cases, and we consider him one of our own. Our preliminary investigation corroborates what Detective Beckett, her team and Mr. Castle have told us about the intelligence received before the investigation of the warehouse was conducted. If we can confirm this one-hundred per cent, Detective Beckett may only be suspended for a short amount of time, with pay, before being reinstated to her position."

Kate couldn't hide her surprise. Ryan, who was closest to her, nudged her with his arm, but didn't look her way. Castle's very public pre-emptive strike seemed to have made a difference.

Benson continued. "Detective Beckett would like to make a statement of her own, but she will not be taking any questions. Detective Beckett?" He turned toward her and gestured to her with one hand.

As Kate rose, she was nearly blinded by flashes and the sounds of the reporters shouting questions to her. She unfolded her statement and placed it on the podium, hoping that her shaking legs would support her.

"Good Afternoon," She said and she was happy her voice sounded strong and confident. As in Castle's press conference, several of the press returned her greeting.

"I want to thank Richard Castle and his family for the support they have shown me during this time. I have worked with Richard Castle for over a year now, and as the Commissioner has said, he has been of great assistance to me and my team in several of the cases we have investigated.

"As you all know, the information we had on the warehouse was that it was no longer being used by Carter Booth's people and we were merely checking to see if we could find any evidence that may have been left behind. Protective vests were worn as a precaution, which unfortunately, did not help Mr. Castle when he was shot."

"As police officers we go into potentially dangerous situations on a regular basis. This is our job and we are prepared to take the risk. A civilian, even a trained civilian, cannot be expected to face this same risk. When we entered that warehouse that morning, Mr. Castle saw something that neither I nor my team were aware of, and he acted before we could respond. In fact, Mr. Castle saved my life by putting himself between me and the shots that were aimed at me." A ripple went through the crowd at this news.

"I want to speak for Captain Montgomery and my team, Detectives Ryan and Esposito, by saying how very much we regret what happened to Richard Castle, our colleague and our friend. As the commissioner has said, we consider Mr. Castle one of our own. However, I have spoken to Captain Montgomery and Commissioner Benson and we have agreed that in the future, due to this incident and the potential danger, Mr. Castle will no longer be allowed to continue shadowing my team. We thank him for his past assistance and wish him and his family well. Thank you for your time."

#######

As Kate left the podium and headed out of the room with her people, she could feel her cell phone vibrating in her pocket already. When she finished her statement bedlam had ensued. Reporters were shouting questions at the top of their lungs and lunging at her with their cameras. She set her jaw and ignored all of them.

She managed to ignore her phone through the de-brief with the Commissioner, but she knew who was calling and she did not look forward to the conversation.

The reporters were frantic to talk to her and she was glad they had all come in a police van as she ran the gauntlet between the building and the van.

As they rode back to the precinct, Esposito said quietly, "You didn't tell us Castle wasn't going to come back." She heard the reproach in his voice. "Was that the Commissioner's idea or yours?"

Kate couldn't meet his eye. "It was a mutual agreement."

Esposito nodded. Ryan looked concerned. "Did you tell Castle before the conference?"

"No." Her voice wavered.

Esposito looked at her and after a moment, shook his head without comment.

#######

Kate got into her car in the precinct garage and pulled the door shut. She gripped the steering wheel and let her forehead drop against it. She took a deep breath and took her phone from her pocket. Six missed messages. She was surprised there weren't more.

She hit his number on speed dial and waited for it to ring. He picked up on the first ring.

"Kate," he said, and she clenched her teeth at the tone in his voice. "Please don't do this." He sounded so upset.

"Look, Castle, Rick, it's what needs to be done." She pretty much hated herself at this moment. "I can't do my job if I'm watching out for you."

"Don't shut me out, Kate, please." His voice shook.

"Listen, I have to go." Something wet fell onto her wrist.

"No, Kate, wait…" She ended the call.

#######

Kate went home and locked herself away. She ignored the vibrating of her phone and changed into some sweats and a T-shirt. She got out a bottle of tequila and took a few shots, but even that didn't help.

She lay back on the couch and closed her eyes. She would give everything she had to go back to that morning in bed with him, before the shooting. She wanted to feel him in her arms, she wanted to hold him and laugh with him as they made love, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers, but it had all changed now. She grabbed the quilt on the back of the couch and pulled it over her to try and warm the sudden chill that had come over her.

She managed to doze for a while. She woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating. Disoriented, her mind still clouded with sleep, she reached out, grabbed it and answered.

"Beckett."

It was Alexis and she was hysterical. "Kate," she sobbed. "Dad's gone."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Worst Case Scenario VII

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, Romance

Summary: In the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong.

Spoilers: None.

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

#######

"Gone?' Kate's heart clutched painfully. Jesus God, Alexis couldn't mean…? "Alexis, what do you mean, gone?" She couldn't keep the horror from her voice.

"I went to the rest room and came back and he was gone. He must have pulled out his IV himself, there was some blood on the bed. His clothes are gone and no one can find him," she sobbed.

Kate was on her feet, relief making her almost dizzy. "Why would he do this? Where would he go? Why would he leave?" Her mind was still in shock and not processing this information very well.

"He was really upset after he talked to you today. For some reason after that, he stopped using his pain pump. Neither Gram or I could talk him into using it, and he just got worse and worse. We could tell he was in pain, but he wouldn't take the pain meds. At one point Gram reached over and tried to push the button for him, but he snatched it away from her and told her not to do that again. Later he tried to sleep, but I don't think he really was. Since he's been doing a little better, Gram decided we would take turns spending the night with him. It was my turn, but Gram was going to stay tonight, anyway, since he was in such bad shape, but he told her to go. He wasn't very nice about it." Alexis sniffled.

Kate was moving around her bedroom trying to get dressed. "I'm sure the pain had something to do with that."

"That's what Gram said. Kate, where would he go? "

"Would he go back to the loft, do you think?"

"I don't know, I don't know" Alexis sounded frantic. "Kate, what should I do?"

"Have you tried to call him? Does he have his phone with him?"

"No. After he talked to you today he was so upset he threw it at the wall and broke it."

Kate digested that silently. She took a deep breath.

"Listen, I'll take care of it, Lex. I'll find him, I promise. I'll call you when I do."

"Kate, no, I can't just sit around and do nothing." She was calmer now, but to Kate's ears she was still very shaken.

Kate sighed. "Okay, I'll come get you. I'll be there soon." She ended the call and fought back a wave of panic. He didn't have his phone. There was no way to trace him. In his condition he could be lying injured someplace and they would have no way to find him. Where would he go? Dear God he could be…

She tried not to give in to the tears, breathing heavily. She got her shoes on, grabbed her phone and wrenched her front door open—and there he was, leaning against the outside wall, looking like death.

They stared at each other silently for a few seconds and then she moved forward and took him in her arms and held him as tightly as she could, relief making her weak. "Rick." She wanted to sound stern, angry, but it came out in a whimper.

She felt his good arm come up around her. After a moment he said huskily, "You're shaking."

She pulled away from him to look into his face. 'You scared the hell out of me. What were you thinking? You're in no shape to be leaving the hospital like that. "

"I won't let you push me away, Kate." He looked into her eyes with an almost grim look. Before she could answer, something passed across his face. He grimaced, leaned forward to put his forehead against the door jam and ground out, "Ohhh, _fuck._" He closed his eyes against the pain.

"Rick," Kate felt a little helpless. She hovered near him but she was afraid to touch him in case she hurt him more. When the spasm of pain seemed to have passed, she took his arm and led him to the couch, helping him down onto the cushions.

"Lie back," she tried to help him, but he shook his head.

"No. Not yet. Hurts too much." He was breathing a little heavily

"God, Rick, look at you. You need to be in the hospital. Why would you stop taking your pain medication?"

He looked a little surprised. "How do you know about that?"

"Alexis called me when she found you gone. She was hysterical, by the way. Nice thing to do to your daughter. I'll call her as soon as I call an ambulance for you." She took her phone out to make the call when his hand closed over her wrist.

"Yes, to Alexis, no to the ambulance," he said.

"Rick…"

"Kate, I didn't drag myself all the way over here to be taken back to the hospital before I can even talk to you. Besides, you call an ambulance to your address at this time of night and the press will be all over it."

He was probably right. Kate gave him a look and dialed Alexis's number. Alexis was so relieved when Kate told her that Rick was there, she broke down crying again. Kate let Alexis talk to Rick, who tried to sound better than he was. He promised he'd come back to the hospital after he talked to Kate, apologized profusely for scaring Alexis, and finally ended the call.

Kate watched his fist clench against his leg and knew he was hurting again. "You never answered my question. What's with not taking your pain meds?"

Rick looked at her silently for a few moments. "After I talked to you today, I knew I had to see you face to face and I would have to be the one to come to you. The morphine makes me sleepy and out of it, so I stopped taking it to get it out of my system before I made the big break, so I could function."

Kate shook her head, astounded at what he'd put himself through just so he could see her. "You are unbelievable."

He reached over and took her hand. "I mean it, Kate. I'll do whatever it takes so you don't shut me out. I know you're scared, but I'm not letting you go. You're way too important to me."

Kate sighed. "Rick, you think you're not just as important to me?" He just looked at her, so she took his arm. "You are. If you weren't, I wouldn't have done what I did today."

"Yeah, about that. I seem to recall someone telling me we were going to grow into little old people with a gajillion kids and grandkids around us, and suddenly you're walking away?" He tried to sound flip, but couldn't hide the hurt in his voice.

She leaned her head against him. "The important part is you living long enough to become a little old guy," she said. "It's my job to keep you safe until then."

"No," He said softly. "That's not your job. I can look after myself."

She glanced at him. "Clearly."

He smiled for a moment at the sarcasm in her voice, and then his smile faded. "Something happened to change things, didn't it? What is it?"

Kate sombered and in fits and starts told him about the bullet that had passed through him and injured her. She couldn't keep the horror from her voice or the tears that rolled down her cheeks. He pulled her to him and held her. "So that's what scared you so badly. Kate, honey, I'm so sorry."

Kate pulled back and swiped a hand across her face. She lay her head back on his shoulder and said softly into his ear, "Rick, listen to me. You want the truth? Here it is. When my mother was murdered it nearly killed me, too. I was only 19, but it almost did me in. When I decided to join the police force, suddenly I had a purpose in life. A mission to help people who had been though what I had gone through, and it saved me, it really did, but at the same time, all the hopes and dreams I had for my future were pushed to the side so this new purpose could take their place. For a very long time, my life was a very serious matter. I lived for my job and any personal life took a back seat to my career.

Then one day," she said slowly, smiling against him. "This crazy clown came into my life and _insisted_ I have some fun, whether I wanted to or not. Darn him, he wouldn't take no for an answer." She felt the breath he huffed against her. She pulled back to look into his smiling eyes. She gave him a mock frown. "I was very angry at this, that someone would upset my carefully established life, but…"

"But?" He raised an eyebrow.

"But eventually I found myself giving in to this clown. I did have some fun, and you know what? I kinda liked it."

He smiled at her. "You did?"

She nodded. "Mmm hmm. Pretty soon, I found I started to really like this crazy clown, too. He became very, very important to me. Indispensible, really. And you know what? All those hopes and dreams I'd pushed aside all that time ago? They started to come back into my life. I thought they were gone for good, but they really weren't. The clown brought them back with him when he came waltzing into my life."

Rick turned his head and kissed her cheek. "And may I say how important you are to this crazy clown as well."

Kate became serious again. She took his hand and brushed the side of her thumb back and forth across it. "You remember what I said at the beginning of my story about my mother's murder almost killing me?" She felt him nod against her head. "Well, I survived, but it was a close call. It's been ten years and I am still reeling from her death. The reverberations are still buffeting me every day, but I'm still here." She gave him a watery smile. He squeezed her hand.

"Rick, I survived losing someone very important to me, but I don't know if you realize how precarious my position still is. You say you know how scared I am. I don't think you do. I love you so much. You are so important to me, if anything happened to you, if I lost you, I …" She looked into his eyes and shook her head. "I wouldn't survive it this time. I wouldn't want to survive it this time. It would destroy me."

Rick pulled her close and just held her. After a few moments he said, "No. No it wouldn't. I fully believe you would survive because of who you are." He pulled back to look at her. "Kate, I could be hit by a bus on the way to get coffee tomorrow. We can't predict what's going to happen when we get out of bed every day. The most we can do is live our lives to the fullest and hope for the best. I love you, too, and I plan on spending as much time as I have left on this planet with you, showing you how I feel about you. We have to pack in as much time together as we can. We can't sit around trying to cheat fate, and we especially can't do it by being apart. Don't you see?"

Kate leaned against him again. "How can I go to a crime scene from now on and not be scared to death that something will happen to you?"

"By just doing it. After the first one where nothing happens, it will get a little better, after about twenty of them, it will just be routine again. You can't keep me safe 24 hours a day, Kate, I can't keep you safe all that time, either, although I want to. You have to realize this was an odd, isolated incident." He grunted, and his face screwed up in pain again as he doubled over.

Kate felt helpless. "Rick, tell me what to do. I don't know what to do. You need to be back at the hospital where they can give you some pain medication."

Rick pointed at something on the table. The tequila bottle. Poor man's pain killer. Kate got up and grabbed it and started to pour it into a shot glass. Rick shook his head. "Just give me the bottle." He took it and took a swig. After a few more, he felt good enough to lie back on the couch. Kate covered him with the quilt and sat down by his feet. She put her hand on his covered feet and said, "Rick, you really need to be back at the hospital." She repeated herself.

Rick took another drink. "Listen, I have a friend who just happens to own a private ambulance service. If you call him he can be very discreet. I'll show you his number on my speed dial. Oh, wait."

"Yes, I hear you smashed your phone against the wall today, Mr. Castle. Very mature." Kate raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I seem to recall something had really upset me." She pinched his leg gently.

"He's in the phone book, too. His name is Jeremy Bleaker." He took another drink and closed his eyes.

Kate sat quietly just watching him. She was happy to see him fall into a doze after a while and reached over to gently remove the tequila bottle from his grip. He opened his eyes. "Kate," he said softly.

"Hmm?" She put the bottle back onto the coffee table.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" His words were a little slurred.

"Okay, enough tequila for you. You're hammered."

He grinned. "I kinda love you, you know."

"Yes, and you love the tequila bottle and the coffee table and the lamp, too, right?"

Playing along, he said, "Why, yes, how did you know?" Kate grinned and leaned down to kiss him softly on the mouth.

"But not as much as you." He added.

"Good to know. I can't believe you did this tonight." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I told you. Whatever it takes."

Kate sighed. "Go back to sleep. I'll call your friend in a few minutes. Are you warm enough?"

"Ye…_no_." He shook his head adamantly.

"Okay, which is it?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I'd be warmer if you'd lay down with me." He waggled his eyebrows. Kate narrowed her eyes.

"No funny business, honest." He said.

"I don't think you're up to any funny business, mister."

"See? Perfectly safe."

Kate looked at him doubtfully. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Hammered, remember?" He turned back the quilt in invitation.

Kate took off her shoes and carefully settled against him. They both sighed. Kate remembered her wish earlier tonight to hold him again. Unbelievably, her wish had come true. She lay her head on his good side and breathed him in.

"Is this okay?" She asked softly.

"Perfect." He kissed her head.

They lay quietly for a bit, and Kate thought to herself that his behavior tonight was clear evidence that the wild little boy Martha had described to her, the one who dove headlong into trouble at every turn, was still very much present today. Lord, what was she thinking? What about the much more recent incident with the police horse and Rick au naturel, not to mention some other stories he'd told her? She really needed to get the details from him about that sometime. Thinking about his earliest escapades, though, she murmured, "So, Spider Man swim trunks, huh?"

Rick frowned at her. "I'm sorry. Non sequitur. I know I've had a bit to drink but I have no idea what that means." Kate explained to him that Martha had told him the story about his jumping off the garage roof.

Rick laughed. "Oh, well, Spider Man _is_ da bomb, you know. She told you that?" Rick smiled.

"And about the tower you constructed." Kate murmured. She thought it best not to bring up the time he got beat up.

"That, too? Wow, she really was worried about me. Did she tell you about the home-made zip-line I made using the clothes line that was strung between our third story apartment and the one next door?"

"God, no. What happened?"

"Oh, not much. It was just a minor concussion."

"Lord, your poor mother." Kate shook her head. Without thinking she said, "I wonder if our kids will be like that?"

Rick grinned. "Well, there's just one way to find out." He leaned over to kiss her, but pulled back with a slight grimace. "Ow. Maybe not right now."

Kate put a hand on his chest. "Yeah. The moves will have to wait until you're a bit better, Casanova"

#######

"Kate," Rick's voice woke Kate sometime later. She drew in a deep breath as she awoke and looked up at him. He was clearly in agony.

"Rick." She nearly fell off the couch in her haste, trying to get off of him. "Okay, it's time, I'm calling your friend."

"First give me the bottle." Rick reached out for the tequila bottle again.

Kate frowned. "I don't know if you should have more liquor."

"Jesus, Kate, this is killing me. Please?"

Because she couldn't bear to see him suffer, she handed him the bottle but worried she was doing him more harm than good. She went to the kitchen and got the phone book and looked up Rick's friend. In the yellow pages she looked up the section for ambulances, and there it was, 'Bleaker Medical Transport.' She called the number, and although it was 4:15 in the morning the phone was answered on the first ring by Jeremy Bleaker himself.

"Mr. Bleaker, my name is Kate Beckett, I'm a friend of Richard Castle."

"Oh yes, Detective Beckett. Please call me Jeremy. How can I help you?" 'Detective Beckett?' He seemed to know a lot about her. She explained the situation, and Rick's current condition, and Jeremy asked for directions to the back entrance to her building and promised he'd be there in ten minutes.

Kate disconnected the call and went back to Rick. "Jeremy said he's on his way, but he told me to stop you drinking any more tequila. He said the combination of the pain killers he's bringing and the alcohol could produce some very nasty side-effects."

Rick looked almost gray in the face and he was shaking. "'Kay." He held the bottle out to her and she took it, then she took his hand and held it.

"How bad is it?"

He tried to smile. "On a scale from one to ten? Ten being the worst? A fifteen."

She squeezed his hand and brushed the hair from his brow gently with her other hand. "I hate to see you suffering like this. There's a reason you were in the hospital, you know."

"I know, but I had something very, very important I had to do tonight."

Kate shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Ooh, do tell."

She gently smacked his hand. "Okay whatever tequila you managed to get down is clearly in effect if you're twisting my words into something sexual."

He grimaced for a moment, squeezing her hand tighter and said, "Just trying to take my mind off things."

Just then there was a soft knock at the door. Kate gave Rick's hand a pat, and got up to open the door. A man in his late thirties with smiling blue eyes and curly blonde hair greeted her with a grin "Detective Beckett? I'm Jeremy Bleaker."

Kate smiled. "Nice to meet you face to face, Jeremy. Rick's just in here."

Jeremy pulled the gurney into the room, followed by two men with EMT badges on their jackets. In no time they had Rick's vitals taken, and had him up on the gurney. Jeremy gave him a shot of a pain killer he promised was "the good stuff." Holding Rick's hand, Kate could see the tension leave his face as the pain killer took effect, and his hold on her hand relaxed as well, although he didn't let go.

They took him down in the elevator, and then headed for the back entrance to Kate's building. Rick never let go of Kate's hand.

It was nearly dawn, the early light of day. As the doors to the ambulance were opened, no one noticed the photographer hunched down behind a nearby dumpster, or the whirring of his camera as he took multiple shots as Rick was loaded into the ambulance, Kate following close behind.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Worst Case Scenario VIII

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Angst, Romance

Summary: In the blink of an eye it all went horribly wrong.

Spoilers: None.

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

#######

On the way back to the hospital, Kate called ahead and let them know where Rick was and that they would be back soon. As she put her phone away, she glanced at Rick's face. Once the pain killers had kicked in, he had fallen asleep almost immediately out of what Kate felt was sheer relief. She gently brushed the hair away from his brow with her fingers and looked at him fondly.

"He took a risk leaving the hospital like that," Jeremy said quietly.

Kate didn't take her eyes from Rick's face. "Not that I condone what he did, but we, uh, had to work some things out and he wasn't going to wait for the discussion."

Jeremy nodded. "He cares about you a lot, Kate."

Kate smiled softly. "I know. I feel the same way about him."

"He's a lucky guy."

"No," Kate shook her head, stroking the back of Rick's hand with the side of her thumb. "I'm the lucky one."

#######

As they rolled Rick back to his room, Kate could see they had an audience. Martha and Alexis were there, as were Rick's doctor, Dr. Forbes, and the head nurse.

Rick had awakened in the elevator, but still looked drowsy.

"Dad," Alexis said reproachfully, coming out to meet the gurney and taking his hand.

"Richard, honestly, what are we going to do with you?" Martha said, pulling Kate into a hug. "Kate thanks so much for finding our stray."

"I didn't have to find him, he came to me," Kate admitted.

Martha threw her hands up. "I should have known." She gave Rick a look.

"Ah, Mr. Castle, so nice of you to join us again," Dr. Forbes said wryly.

"Just stepped out for a breath of fresh air," Rick replied. They got him settled back in bed and the nurse put the IV tube back into his wrist. Rick grimaced in pain. "Ow." He said with a pointed look at the nurse.

She returned the look. "Just be glad I didn't go get the big needles after the stunt you pulled."

Rick did his best to look chastised. "Duly noted," he said softly. As she bustled out of the room, he said in a conspiratorial voice, "Never piss off the ones with the needles."

"Kate, " Jeremy said. "Do you need a lift back to your apartment?"

"No, I'm going to stay for a while, but thanks." She was so tired now the crisis was over that she could drop, but she didn't want to let Rick out of her sight.

Jeremy gave her a smile and said his good-byes to Rick and his family and took his leave.

"Well, good, I'm glad you're staying, Kate." Martha said. "Alexis was so upset I think she needs to go home and get some sleep."

Alexis looked away from Rick. "Gram, I'm fine."

"No, sweetie, Gram's right, you need to go home and get some sleep. That's all I'm going to be doing." Rick said.

When Alexis looked uncertain, Kate added, "Alexis, I'll be here in case he needs anything."

Alexis looked back at her father, and then, reluctantly agreed. After hugs to both Rick and Kate they took their leave.

Kate went to the side of Rick's bed and took his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. On a scale from one to ten, the pain's about a three right now."

She squeezed his hand, remembering the look of agony on his face earlier. "Good, glad to hear it."

"What about you?" He said with some concern. "You're looking a little pale. Are you okay?"

"It's been a really long night. It seems someone interrupted my sleep earlier."

"Who would do such a rude thing?" He said in mock outrage.

She smiled at him, removed her hand from his and gave the back of his a pat. "Get some sleep." She pecked him on the lips and settled down into the nearby chair. "I'll be right here."

He turned back the bedding. "You could sleep with me."

"Wow, you are feeling better. Tempting, but I kinda think that's against the rules."

"To heck with the rules." He raised an eyebrow at her, blanket still turned back.

"I thought you didn't want to piss off the people with the needles."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep."

#######

It seemed like minutes later she was awakened by the sound of her ring tone. She glanced up at Castle as she rose, pulling her cell from her pocket. He was still asleep, so she stepped out of the room to answer.

"Beckett."

"Ah, Detective Beckett. I'm real sorry to hear about your friend."

Kate frowned. "Who's this?"

"The reason I'm sorry about Castle is we were really aiming at you," the voice continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Booth?"

"Right on the first try."

Kate glanced back into the room. Rick hadn't moved since she left. She stepped farther into the hallway and pressed the record button on her phone. "Mr. Booth, are you suggesting you tried to kill a New York City police officer in the line of duty?"

"No, I'm not suggesting anything, I'm just sayin' it. If you don't keep your pretty little nose out of my affairs, you just might get it shot off." The line went dead.

She immediately called Captain Montgomery and told him what had happened. He promised to put Esposito and Ryan on it, and told her he'd send a couple of uniforms to the hospital.

She went back into the room and found Rick looking at her sleepily. "Hey, something going on?" He said softly.

Kate forced a smile. "No. Nothing. Everything's fine."

"Where'd you go?" She could tell sleep was still trying to pull him back in.

"Uh, ladies room." She settled back into her chair. "Go back to sleep."

#######

Twenty minutes later Ryan and Esposito showed up along with the two uniforms Montgomery had promised. Rick woke up as they entered the room and frowned, clearly sensing something.

"Castle," Esposito said, Ryan just nodded his direction. They both looked way too serious for Castle to believe nothing was happening.

"What's going on?" Castle gave her a sharp look.

"I'll be right back," Kate murmured as she rose to meet them. Castle immediately threw the bedding back intending to follow.

Kate turned on him with a pointed finger and a sharp "Ah!" She shook her head 'no.' "I swear to God, I will staple you to the bed. Stay put."

He did, but it was reluctantly and he looked very unhappy.

She turned back to Esposito. "What did you find?"

"Well, as we all know, Booth's a hot-head. He wouldn't have called you like that if we weren't getting close, and I'm betting his people aren't happy about him shooting off his mouth like that. "

"He said that back in the warehouse they were aiming at me when they shot Castle."

"Yeah, our sources say he's taking your involvement very personally. He's gunning for you, or at least, he has people gunning for you."

"Just like he had Schmelz and his wife killed. Right in their own beds."

"When a mob accountant starts skimming he needs to watch his back," Ryan added.

"At least he spared the kids," Kate said, remembering the two children, a girl and a boy about eight and ten years old she'd seen being escorted from the house.

"Booth's got ten kids himself. Considers himself a family man. Figures he'd spare the kids." Esposito said.

"How are you doing on leads to arrest him?"

"He's laying low. Not going near his house or any of his regular haunts. We're still working on finding him. And his associates."

Kate sighed. "Okay, keep me posted."

######

When she went back into the room, Rick watched her intently but didn't say anything, looking sulky. Darn him, that was worse than a barrage of questions. She finally sighed and put a hand on his arm.

"I got a call from Carter Booth this morning."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he's not happy we're investigating him for the Schmelz's murders and he's holding me responsible."

"So, the ambush in the warehouse wasn't random. That was aimed at you." It wasn't a question.

"Apparently."

"Kate…"

"I know, but he made the mistake of giving us a head's up, so forewarned is forearmed, right? Montgomery's put a black and white in front of my apartment and he's posted officers outside your room, in case you didn't notice."

Rick's glance flicked toward the door and back to her. "I noticed."

"So, we do what we can do. Esposito and Ryan are on it, and I'd put my money on them over Booth anyday."

Rick looked at her silently for a few moments and then said, "I don't suppose you'd let me buy you a first-class ticket to Timbuktu or someplace equally far-away and exotic, would you?"

Kate smiled and squeezed his arm. "I appreciate you wanting to hide me away, but Castle, if the mob wants to get me, they're going to get me, no matter where I go. Better I stay here and keep an eye on things until this is all over."

He almost smiled when he said, "I knew you'd say that. What can I do?"

"You can stay here and get better. Let me deal with this, okay?"

#######

Later that day, Kate leaned against her bathroom counter and fought the tears that flooded her eyes. She'd had a hard time leaving Rick earlier. When she told him she was going to go home and sleep for a bit and take a much needed shower, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. It was only her promise of having one of the officers take her home that made him relent.

She'd slept for almost three hours, then dragged herself from her bed to take a hot shower. Before she stepped into the stall she'd taken care of a matter she'd been ignoring for far too long. When she stepped from the shower, she checked her findings and they confirmed what she already knew. She sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek.

With a melancholy smile on her face she said softly, "Well, Mr. Castle, you promised me there wouldn't be a dull moment with you, and you are absolutely right."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Worst Case Scenario, Chapter 9

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Romance, Angst

Summary: For GhostWriterLost who wanted this for Christmas!

Spoilers: None

Archive: Yes, Please!

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It is a labor of love.

Note: Sorry it has taken me so long to get this finished! RL got in the way!

#######

Kate was sitting at her desk at the precinct looking over Booth's file. Captain Montgomery had called her three days ago. "Beckett, how would you like to come back to work?

"I…I'd love to, Captain, but what about my suspension?"

"Consider it 'time served.' The commissioner is bowing to public pressure to reinstate you, I'm happy to report, and if you're up to it, you can start back tomorrow."

Kate resisted the urge to cross her fingers behind her back. "I'm fine, sir, really."

"Okay, then." She could hear the smile in his voice. "See you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir, and thank you."

As soon as she hung up she immediately called Rick. "I have good news," she said almost before he finished his 'hello.'

"Really? I have some good news, too." He sounded very self-satisfied.

"Oh? What?"

"No, you go. Ladies first."

"Captain Montgomery called. I can go back to work tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Just 'oh?'"

"Oh, well, my news was that I get sprung from this place tomorrow, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come over and play nurse."

"Oh. Crap. Will you be able to get home all right?"

"Yes, I'm sure Alexis and mother can handle it."

"I'll come over right after work, I promise. And I'll bring chicken noodle soup."

"Change that to Thai food and you've got a deal." She knew he was disappointed and felt terrible about it.

"Okay. I can do that. I'm so sorry, the timing sucks."

He was quiet for a moment. "No, it's fine. I'm glad you're going back to work."

"I have to admit, I am, too, but I'll be over tonight to see you, and I will be at your place shortly after 5:00 tomorrow."

"Okay, sounds good. Hey, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, why? And Aren't I supposed to be asking you that question?"

"You just sound tired, that's all."

Oh. That. "I am, a little. Didn't get enough sleep last night, I guess. How are you doing?"

"Okay. Bored out of my skull. All I do is sleep."

"You could write," she suggested.

"Don't feel like it." He sounded for all the world like a pouty, little kid.

"Well, you'll be home tomorrow, so just one more night."

"Yeah. I miss you, Kate." His voice was husky.

"You see me every day."

"No, I _miss_ you," and the way he said it sent an immediate surge of heat to certain key places in her body.

She smiled. "Oh, I see. Well, I _miss_ you, too, but you still have some recovering to do, you know."

"Yeah, I guess. Love you." He was sounding pouty again.

"Love you, too. See you soon."

Now, three days later she was settled back into her job. She spent every night at the loft. Rick insisted he couldn't sleep unless she was there with him, big baby, and although she felt a little awkward with Martha and Alexis there, the two women didn't seem to mind at all.

Carter Booth was making it particularly difficult to find him, but Kate was determined she and her team would flush him out, no matter what. 'My will is stronger than yours, Mr. Booth,' she thought to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the captain approaching her desk. "Beckett, can I have a word?" He gestured toward his office.

She noticed Ryan and Esposito raising their heads to observe this. "Yes, sir," she murmured and pushed her chair back to follow him.

Montgomery closed the door and gestured for her to sit. "Beckett, this was just brought to my attention." He handed her a newspaper, folded back to the gossip column. There was a picture of Rick being loaded into Jeremy's ambulance, with Kate holding his hand, preparing to climb in with him. The caption read: "Love Story," and went into great detail about Rick escaping from the hospital to go to Kate's the night of the press conference.

This totally knocked the wind out of Kate. They'd tried to be so careful. She closed her eyes for a moment. Damn the paparazzi. "Does this mean I'm suspended again, sir?"

"No. Barring any input from the commissioner—whom I have not heard from yet-you are still a standing detective at the 12th. I just wanted you to be aware what was being said publically."

"Sir, Castle and I…" He held up a hand.

"No need to explain. It's none of my business. I have had an idea how you two felt about each other for a while, but it was not my place to say anything. What you do in your private life does not affect me…unless it affects your job."

"It doesn't, sir."

"Okay, then."

She went back to the bull pen with the paper in her hand. She walked up to Ryan and Esposito and tossed it on the desk. "Just so you know, "she said, before returning to her desk and dropping into her chair.

Ryan and Esposito appeared in front of her almost immediately. "Actually," Ryan said, "We kinda knew.' He produced another copy of the paper from behind him.

"Yeah," Esposito said. "We were actually going to ask you to autograph it for us."

Kate snorted. "Oh shut up. And get back to work." It was their way of saying it was okay with them. Of all the people at the precinct, the only people who's opinion mattered to her were the captain and her two guys. Now she could relax and really get back to work. She could handle the odd stare from the others at the precinct, but knowing she had the okay from those closest to her meant a lot.

She did, however, take her phone into the conference room and close the door before she called Rick about it.

He answered on the first ring and he was freaked. "Kate, I don't know if you've seen…"

"I just did. Montgomery showed me."

"Kate, listen…"

"Rick, seriously, it's fine. I'm over the whole thing. Screw the press. Fine, so they know we're together. Let them twist it into whatever stupid story they want. I won't let them tear us apart."

She could hear the tangible relief in his voice. "Thank God. I like the way you're thinking, detective, but what does the commissioner say?"

"Haven't heard from him yet, but I think Montgomery is willing to go to bat for us."

"The captain's a good guy."

"Yes, he is."

#######

A week later, Kate woke up as the first rays of dawn filtered into their bedroom. Rick was breathing softly and evenly behind her, an arm anchoring her to him, and she nestled back into him with a sigh. She didn't want to get up and go to work, she wanted to just stay here in bed with him. She turned carefully in his arms so she was face to face with him. A bandage still covered his wounds, but he was doing so much better now. The stitches would come out next week, and he would be on the road to being back to his old self. She had wanted to wait to tell him her news until he was a bit better, and now seemed like a good time. They had made love last night for the first time since the shooting, and it brought home to her the old adage that absence really does make the heart grow fonder. She brushed the hair away from his brow with a gentle hand and leaned in to kiss him softly.

"Hey," he said softly, his eyes barely open.

"Hey yourself. I didn't mean to wake you."

"You may wake me like that, anytime, my love." He reached out to cup her cheek in his hand and kissed her.

"Hey, do you feel up to going to supper tonight?" She asked between kisses.

"You mean out in public and everything? It's been so long since I've been anywhere, I don't know if I'd know what to do with myself."

"I just thought we could go to Carlucci's and have some of their chicken cacciatore." Carlucci's was a small, intimate setting where they could relax and not worry about the paparazzi.

"That sounds great. Since it's close to the precinct, how about I meet you there about 6:00?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Now," he said, pulling her closer. "Where were we?" His mouth covered hers and she forgot about everything else.

#######

Kate checked her phone. It was almost 6:30. She called Rick's phone again for the fifth time and got his voice mail…again. "Rick, did you forget about meeting at Carlucci's? I'm here, where are you? Call me." She fought back a sense of worry.

She'd been hesitant to call Martha or Alexis in case she worried them, but this was really starting to scare her. She called Martha first, and got her voice mail as well. "Martha, it's Kate. Uh…call me." Better to not worry the woman until she could talk to her directly. Next she dialed Alexis, who answered on the second ring.

"Alexis, it's Kate. Have you talked to your father recently?"

"No, when I left to meet Ash he was getting ready to meet you for supper. That was about 5:30. He's not there?"

"No, and I'm starting to get worried. I'm going to go back to the loft and check there."

"Do you want me to meet you?" Kate could hear the anxiety in Alexis's voice.

"No, don't interrupt your date. It could be nothing, he might have just fallen asleep. I'll call you once I'm at the loft, okay?"

"Okay," Alexis sounded doubtful. "Please let me know when you find him."

"I will." Kate ended the call and called for the bill. She'd only had a glass of wine and some bread sticks while waiting for Rick. As she was gathering her things together her phone rang. She checked the readout with a sigh of relief. It said "Rick." She answered with a sigh. "There you are. I was worried. Where are you?"

"Detective Beckett. Mr. Castle can't come to the phone right now. He's uh, a little tied up." There was a snicker at this.

"Booth?" Carter Booth had Rick's phone. Everything in her was suddenly tense. "Where's Castle?"

"Mr. Castle has graciously decided to join us at my warehouse. Of course, we had to do some persuading to get him to agree, but stitches can be re-sewn, right?"

A wave of dizziness and nausea suddenly washed over Kate. She pulled herself together and, with a hand to her head, said firmly, "What do you want?"

"Why, you, Beckett. You need to get here in the next 20 minutes. Come alone. No weapons. You're late or I see anyone with you or around you, and I cut lover boy's throat." The line went dead.

#######

Kate slowly pushed the door to the warehouse open and took a deep breath. She hadn't been here since Rick was shot and she wasn't too keen on returning here. One lone bare light bulb illuminated the room.

"Booth?" She called out. "I'm here." She scanned the area, hoping to see either Booth and his men, or some sign of Rick, but it seemed to be deserted.

She suddenly felt the muzzle of a gun against her spine and a hand grasped her arm. It took everything she had not to struggle.

"Mr. Booth is waiting for you," the voice behind her said. After he patted her down, he pulled her toward the freight elevator on the other side of the room, shoving her inside and pulling the door down. Kate looked at the man's face as he held the gun on her. Tommy Boyer or Baugher, something like that. One of Booth's key men.

They descended a floor. As Tommy raised the door the first thing she saw was Rick tied to a chair on one side of the room, a gag in his mouth and blood running down his temple. There was also a blood stain on his shirt.

"Rick," she started toward him, and he raised his head to see her, shaking his head 'no.'

Tommy grabbed her by her hair to stop her. "Ah, ah. You're not going anywhere."

Kate and Rick stared at each other silently for a few moments, before Kate turned to address Tommy. "What do you want from me?"

"That's for Mr. Booth to tell you." He nodded behind her, and as she turned her head, she could see Carter Booth emerge from the shadows.

"What do I want from you, detective? I want you to pay for all the shit you've put me through." He grabbed her roughly away from Tommy and put a gun to her head. "I _was_ going to make you watch while I killed Mr. Castle before I took care of you, but now that I see you and I remember all the trouble you gave me, I just want to end you first.

Rick tried to rise from the chair, muffled protests coming from his mouth. Tommy went over and hit Rick with the butt of his gun. Kate's cry of protest drowned out Rick's muffled shout. "Shut up or you get it right now." Rick sat, eyeing Tommy balefully, and new track of blood running down his face.

Booth laughed grimly. "Granted, it's hard to decide which one of you I want to go first. Castle here's been a pain in my ass since we grabbed him. We finally had to gag him just to get him to shut up."

A laugh of hysteria almost escaped Kate. She knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Booth, listen to me. We can work this out. No one needs to die." The mental image of Schmelz and his wife, lying dead in their beds crossed her mind and she forced it back.

Booth yanked her toward him. "That's where you're wrong, Beckett." He put the gun to her head. "You're going to pay for meddling in my affairs, and you're going to pay right now."

"No wait, you can't." Kate said in desperation, her eyes on Rick.

"Oh really? And why is that?" Booth sounded amused.

"Because I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant," she blurted out. Rick's head shot up, his stunned, horrified gaze locking with hers.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is. I know you're a family man. I know you wouldn't harm children. The Schmelz kids, you left them alone. You can't do this."

"And how do I know you're not lying just to save your skin?"

"My right coat pocket. We were meeting tonight and I was going to tell him." When Booth didn't move she said, "Check my pocket."

Booth motioned for Tommy to check her pocket. He pulled out a long, thin, gift-wrapped package and held it up for Booth to see.

"Well, open it, moron," Booth said.

Tommy tore the paper off to reveal a pregnancy test stick with a little plus sign on the screen and showed it to Booth. Booth swore and threw the stick across the room.

"Fine, you may be off the hook until the kid is born, but that doesn't mean one of you won't pay. Tommy, take care of the writer."

"No!" Kate screamed and started to struggle as Tommy raised his gun to Rick's head. Rick kept his gaze on Kate, trying to convey to her all that he wanted to say.

"Rick!" Kate screamed, and then the door to the stairwell was wrenched open while she could hear Esposito and Ryan shouting for the two men to drop their weapons. Tommy turned to fire on the intruders and got himself killed in the process. Booth on the other hand, quietly let go of Kate and put his hands behind his head. Kate went immediately to Rick and pulled off the gag.

"Rick, are you okay?" Her voice shook. She wiped a trail of blood from his forehead.

"Kate, you're pregnant? You're really pregnant?"

Kate smiled. "Yeah. I am. Imagine that. Amidst all the drama we've been dealing with lately, we have to add that to the mix." She moved around to untie him. As soon as he was free, he was on his feet, taking her in his arms and nearly squeezing the life out of her.

Finally she said, "Rick, can't breathe." He let her go to look into her eyes.

"I'm happy about this Kate. Are you?"

Kate smiled up at him. "Yeah, I am, too. At first it was a bit of a shock, but now that I'm used to the idea…"

"What?" How long have you known?" There was a little frown between Rick's eyes.

"Since the day after you made your hospital break," she admitted. Esposito was hauling a hand-cuffed Booth from the room none too gently.

His mouth fell open. "Wha? Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to wait until you were home and doing better." She glanced over to see the paramedics enter the room. "Over here," she called. She turned back to Rick. "Well, it's back to the hospital for you, I'm afraid."

Rick shook his head. "You need to get checked out, too."

"Why? I'm fine."

"Kate, the baby…"

She put her hand on his cheek. "Rick, the baby's fine. I'm fine. You, on the other hand, have had the crap beat out of you, and it looks like you tore some stitches."

"Well, okay," He said reluctantly. "But only if you go with me."

She smiled up at him. "Absolutely."

#######

A month later Kate followed Rick through the door of the loft. She watched Rick remove his coat with a sigh. He turned to face her and she gave him a rueful smile. "I almost feel like I should be apologizing to you," she said softly.

He smiled, puzzled, and shook his head. He walked back to her and took her in his arms. "Now why would you say that?"

"Rick, in your life you are surrounded by women. I was sort of hoping the baby would be a boy so we could even out the odds a little." The sonogram today had shown they were having a girl.

He huffed out a laugh and kissed her softly on the mouth. "Now, why would you think I'd be disappointed at the thought of having a little girl who is going to be just as beautiful as her mother?"

"Rick…" He put a finger on her lips to stop her.

"Next baby, okay? We'll have a boy next time."

"Next time, eh?"

"Well yes, and maybe we could arrange to have a wedding in there someplace."

Kate laughed. "Okay, it's a deal."

Fin


End file.
